Hello there, carpenters and citizens of
Dunedin. You may remember me- I have bumped into most of you over the past week
and seen you in action, building, making and on the computers. I have
introduced myself briefly to most of you, but I am aware that I haven't had a
proper opportunity to introduce myself to you as a group.
Briefly (I will tell you more next week
when we meet as a class) my name is Aaron Blaker and I grew up in the North
Island, in Gisborne. I moved to Dunedin in 2001 to study, and have been here
ever since. I fell in love with Dunedin's social and cultural life, its stone
buildings, its fierce winter weather, its beaches and its people- so full of
beans! I played football for Caversham for eight seasons, but now I have a
dodgy knee and am awaiting an operation. I am married, and I have a three year
old daughter and a thirteen year old step-son. I am a busy man.
As far as teaching goes, I am a trained
secondary school teacher (English and Drama) but decided that schools were not
quite the place for me, so I trained as an ESOL teacher and have been teaching
international students and migrants in Dunedin for the past eight years.
When I'm not teaching or riding my bike or
hanging out with my family, I'm studying Spanish or writing short stories.
My main purpose for being here, on Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, with you the Trades students of 2012, is to
work alongside you as you do your written and reading and course work. I will
be providing encouragement, assistance and extension if needed. We will also
look at some interesting ways to communicate verbally (by speaking.)
I look forward to supporting you as you
work toward your goals in Semester Two, 2012.
Suerte!
Aaron
